No. 22 Transy improved to 14-3 overall and 5-1 in HCAC play while Manchester is 4-12, 1-5 HCAC. It was the first win for the Pioneers over the Spartans since Transy joined the HCAC in 2001-02, a span of eight games. Transy came into the contest a game ahead of four teams in the HCAC race.
After the teams battled evenly over most of the first 20 minutes, Transy found itself ahead by one, 31-30, at intermission. An 11-3 run to open the second half featuring a three-point play by Bryan Howard and steals followed by layups for Bain, Pendleton, and Howard, made it 42-33 with 15:11 to go.
Manchester battled back to within three, 47-44, on five straight points from Cornelius Bambo, but Pendleton made three long-range baskets in a row along with a layup to restore Transy's nine-point advantage, 58-49, with 2:57 to go. Howard, who finished with 14 points, 12 in the second half, tallied five straight points to push the advantage to 63-49 with 1:43 to go, sealing the win.
Transy shot a blistering 56.5 percent in the first half and finished the game at 52.2 percent on 24 of 46, including 10 of 20 from three-point range. Manchester, led by Wes Gardener's 10 points, shot 39.1 percent overall (18 of 46) and was just seven of 21 from long-range. The Spartans' leading scorers, Eric Berger and Kevin Kuhn, combined for only 13 points and four rebounds.
Joey Searle had 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for the Pioneers, who had a 30-23 advantage on the boards. Matt Finke scored eight points and dealt six assists. The Pioneers had 15 assists on 24 baskets.
Transy will be on the road for its next two contests, traveling to Franklin on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. contest and to Anderson on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tilt. The Pioneers' next home game comes on Feb. 1 against Mt. St. Joseph, the only HCAC team to defeat Transy this season.